Top 5 Things to do in Rapina, Polva County

Sillapea Castle was built in the classical style in 1842, later it has been reconstructed. The castle is nationally protected due its remarkable architectural ensemble. Today it accommodates the Rapina Local Lore and Gardening Museum; the castle is surrounded by a manor park with a beautiful garden spreading over 8.7 hectares. The park consists of three parts: an aesthetic garden with high vegetation comprising of terraces lowering towards the lake, a front garden bordered by paths and characterised by distinguishable ensembles of trees and bushes, and a forest park with a pavilion at the Vohandu River.

The Orthodox Church is a neo-Classical oblong building consisting of three parts. In the Western part there is a bell tower and in the Eastern part a crescent-shaped apsis. A cupola with a tambour is in the middle of the building. The exterior of the building is in classical style, incorporating cornices and rustic work. Simple iconostasis of the 19th century catches the eye in the interior. Interesting to know:• The first wooden church was built in 1752 by the order of Empress Elizabeth of Russia.• In 1813 the wooden church was destroyed by fire. The building of the current church started in 1827 by the order of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia and it was finished in 1833.

The Rapina church in the late Baroque style was built in 1785. Interior values of the church include an altar painting by Carl Antropoff, painted in 1871 and consisting of two parts: The Entombment of Jesus and Jesus reveals himself to Mary Magdalene.Interesting to know:• the former church building was destroyed in the Great Northern War;• the best-known Minister was Johan Orn (Oern), who wrote poems in Estonian;• Johann Friedrich Heller (1786-1849), who was there a Minister from 1814, studied the cases of the Estonian language and enlightened folk by working for the newspaper Beitrage by J. H. Rosenplanter.

The exhibition at the Rapina Local Lore and Gardening Museum gives an overview of the manor and the parish of Rapina, the history of the town, the gardening school and practices and also one of the oldest paper factories in Estonia. It includes also old tools and commodities.

The nature trail is equipped with direction signs and 12 trail points with information boards. The trail focuses on forest-related issues and provides information about different types of forests. It can be passed on foot, by bike and in winter with snow by skiing as well.